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Garnock Way

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Garnock Way
Opening titles
GenreSoap opera
Written byJack Gerson
Theme music composerArthur Blake
Country of originScotland
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes173
Production
Executive producerBryan Izzard
Running time30 minutes
(including adverts)
Production companyScottish Television
Original release
NetworkITV
Release1 April 1976 (1976-04-01) –
12 July 1979 (1979-07-12)
Related
Take the High Road

Garnock Way was a short-lived Scottish soap opera, produced by Scottish Television for the ITV network, running from 1976 to 1979. It was replaced by Take the High Road which also featured actors Eileen McCallum, Bill Henderson, Paul Kermack, Michael Elder and John Stahl.

History

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Garnock Way was set in a mining community in a town halfway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.[1] It was deemed to be too gritty for network consumption, which resulted in only certain stations broadcasting the series.

In the summer of 1979 Garnock Way was axed and replaced by Take the High Road,[2] which was a bigger budget affair and more in keeping with the 'tartan' perception of Scotland as it was deliberately set in a more beautiful part of Scotland.[3]

In 2010 it was announced that Garnock Way would be one of the STV archive programmes soon to be available on YouTube. The STV Player channel on the video-sharing website launched on 20 August 2010.[4] However, just four episodes of the series are known to exist, and these are available on the STV Player.

Transmissions

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Only a few ITV stations broadcast the series:

Characters

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The outside scenes depicting the characters' houses were filmed in Charles Street, Torbothie, an area of Shotts in North Lanarkshire. The still picture at the start of the programme, showing the street with the monument, is of the Mercat Cross in Airth.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ Watkins, Mike (27 November 2018). "Viewers can revisit STV serial Garnock Way once more". Archived from the original on 2 June 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  2. ^ "TV – the history of Scottish soaps". 27 September 2012.
  3. ^ Historical detail Archived 2 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine: from an interview with Haldane Duncan, ex-director of Take the High Road. Retrieved on 16 March 2008.
  4. ^ "Forgotten gems of STV's archive can be enjoyed once more thanks to deal with YouTube – Daily Record". 29 June 2010.
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